Vending Payments Specialist Cantaloupe Reports Steady Progress As It Eyes Broader Markets

Cantaloupe Inc. has come a long way since its turbulent times in 2020. The specialist in technology and processing for vending machines and other unattended locations on Thursday announced its dollar volume processed in the December quarter totaled $553.3 million, up 31% year-over-year, while active customers grew 16% to 21,315. Meanwhile, the company narrowed its operating loss to $300,000 from $2.6 million a year earlier.

Chief executive Sean Feeney credited improved demand for technology as unattended retail sites become more common. “We will further lean into these trends by continuing to make investments in new products and services to drive additional value for our customers,” Feeney said in a statement. Feeney, a former software executive, took over as chief executive of the Malvern, Pa.-based firm in the spring of 2020 following a proxy fight for control of the company.

Feeney has not shied away from making strategic acquisitions. In August, Cantaloupe announced it had bought Delicious Nutritious LLC, a Los Angeles-based micro-market payments company operating under trade name Yoke Payments. The price was not disclosed. The deal gives Cantaloupe a terminal that can be integrated with Cantaloupe’s Seed Markets platform for so-called micro markets. These are retail venues that can be fitted into small spaces, for example, refrigerated cases. Cantaloupe made the deal because it needed a terminal specific for these venues.

The latest results reflect significant progress for Cantaloupe since the spring of 2020, when hedge fund Hudson Executive Capital, the company’s biggest investor, won control of the company and brought in Feeney to run it, along with eight new board members. Known then as USA Technologies Inc., the company changed its name a year later. “The successful transformation of [Cantaloupe] … leaves us more enthusiastic than ever about the company’s prospects,” said chairman Doug Bergeron, a former chief executive of payments-terminal maker Verifone and co-managing partner of Hudson Capital, in a statement.